This is a collection of articles dealing with organic gardening, ecology, environmental restoration, news items of interest, travel and just about anything else I find of interest and willing to share with others around the globe. - ENJOY!

Friday, April 28, 2017

MEXICO: Farmers angry over new Sewer Plant which may clean Irrigation Water

Ever wonder about the health and cleanliness of some of the Produce grown in poorer nations shipped to industrial nation grocery stores & sold to you ???

(Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)

"In this April 1, 2017 photo, day laborers
harvest broccoli grown with wastewater, near Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo
state, Mexico. Farmers in the Mezquital Valley use untreated sewage from
Mexico City to water and fertilizer their crops. “Our life comes from
these waters. It is the sustenance,” says farmer Don Justino Lopez of
Tepatepec."

Anyone familiar with the New River which flows northward out of Mexico's Baja California at Mexicali, then you know how horrifically contaminated that water is as it makes it's way to the slowly dying Salton Sea. Been that way for decades without solutions. Now can you imagine Imperial Valley farm produce being irrigated with that filthy disgusting New River water ? Yet down near Mexico City's population of 20+ million and all the raw sewage they generate, they also apparently are incapable of cleaning up their sewer water which has been an ongoing problem for most Mexican cities. It's loaded with massive amounts of synthetic chemicals and the putrid filthy human and animal fecal matter which the farmers apparently want within the water, because it's loaded with plant fertilizing nutrients (which they don't have to buy from industrial Agro-Chemical Companies) for growing lots of produce. As sick as that sounds, that's exactly the way they like things. The Farmers themselves who irrigate with this putrid wastewater also face health risks, including roundworm and other parasite infections. Their families, especially their children are even more vulnerable to diarrheal disease and salmonella. This includes most of the produce which may be contaminated by this filth which heads back to Mexico City to be sold in street markets back to the public. Many of the Mezquital Valley farmers downplay the health risks, claiming that generations of families have never suffered ill effects. In fact they often wash their hands in the brown water before settling down to eat lunch in the fields. One 89 year-old farmer they interviewed, Manuel Ortega, said he was raised on leafy greens, beans and zucchini grown here. He jokingly laughed and said,

"It never gave me the runs"

You can read for yourselves the rest of the story about this raw sewage being used as Mexico's answer to sustainable agriculture.

"Mexico City's water crisis – from source to sewer" The Guardian Nov 2015

Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

Sabino Juarez Corona and other activists protesting against sewage outflows from Mexico City in the agricultural Tula valley. ‘The city sends us pollution and we send it back in the food,’ says Juarez.

This photo and quote above are from an earlier article about Mexico city's water and sewer problem by the Guardian in November 2015. So this recent bizarre exposure is not just something only now being revealed. Here is that full article now. Very spooky!

Imperial Valley's own water contamination Crisis from Mexico to Farms to Salton Sea

San Diego Union Tribune April 2014

Ann Johansson for The New York Times

This subject should remind many of Imperial Valley's New River coming from Mexicali Mexico to the Salton Sea which has always been hotly debated topic for literally decades. Many environmentalists have been protesting how something needs to be done to save the Salton Sea which has been lowering it's lake level in recent years because irrigation water has been sold to San Diego County by Imperial Irrigation District. Now there is less traditional farming which has been replaced by massive Industrial Solar Farms. This translates as less drainage water being funneled north into the Salton Sea. But the main problem for wildlife has always been about the filth being dumped in both New & Alamo Rivers aside from the synthetic science-based junk from industrial agriculture which will never stop. Even with more water the Salton Sea has no chance because of the insane amount of pollutants dumped into it over decades. It's also a sickening health hazzard for migrants moving north by swimming in this New River's toxic soup. Good video below.

The Mexican polluted water problem does not end here at the Imperial Valley either.

Tijuana's sewage fouls shoreline from Imperial Beach to Coronado at staggering rate every year San Diego Tribune - April 2017

"After prolonged drought in the region, rains flooded Tijuana from December through February, causing massive amounts of sewage to flow into the Tijuana River, head north across the border and flush into the Pacific Ocean, fouling beaches all the way to Hotel del Coronado because of northward ocean currents."

The Tijuana River is a third example of Mexico's foul river failures. This is another one of those ongoing never ending dirty legacies that has no viable solution ever being found. In this silent video below, take a look at the massive scale with which such pollution spreads far out to sea to the west while also creeping both north and south for miles and miles. Again, spooky stuff folks!

People are going to have to look at who and what they are putting their faith and trust into now days. The recent March for Science was supposed to be about funding for science, but it was more of a political movement promoting one ideological worldview while demonizing another. As I've stated before, I frankly don't see differences between either side of an issue. Today we read a plethora of science articles about life on other planets, one day going to Mars and terraforming that planet for life. They have no clue how this planet biologically functions and lack viable solutions to restoring life here. However we are supposed to believe that science has answered all the important questions and that they need more funding for worthless disciplines like(Astrobiology) for seeking life on other worlds, but they still can't figure out Earth's biology. Why waste time and money on science fiction myth and fable funding when we have supposedly more important issues of climate change, deforestation, water and air pollution etc ??? Has anyone else ever truly seen real world solutions out there other than the speculative proposals and video animations provided as a form of clickbait entertainment on various electronic media sites ??? Again folks, start questioning the present worldviews being shoved down the public's collective throats these days. Also, be cautiously aware of non-profit environmental organizations who continually beg for you to fund their cause for the good fight. More and more of these are turning out to be scams for personal wealth by those who run them. At one time there were many such organizations who did good work, especially in educating the public. But those days are long gone. When you see them writing more about promoting one political ideology over another, then immediately jump ship before it sinks and takes you with it.

illustration - wrongkindofgreen.org

The above image captures the dreams and aspirations of 21st century's green version of anthropocentrism: solar, wind, wealth. Nature is virtually non-existent in the “climate factory” poster. It only floats in the background as a mere afterthought.